Get Tangled Up In Me
by Mary Sinclair
Summary: Aerial silks is a fun little activity, and oh so relevant... AU where Xav wasn't matched to Crystal
1. Chapter 1

The sound of happy chatter floating up the stairs coaxed a soft groan out of the brunette who half buried her face in her pillows, the duvet pulled up to her ear. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times before she could keep her eyes open for more than a second. She dug around under her pillow, pulling her phone out. Another groan escaped her as she squinted at the light of the screen. It was just after eleven thirty in the morning and it sounded like her parents had the TV on. Weighing up the fact that she had just slept for the better part of twelve hours, she dug herself out of bed, bribing herself with the promise of coffee and food, but only if she got out of bed.

Feet touching the carpet, she sighed, clenching her toes to appreciate the softness of the carpet. She eyed up the bag full of clothes she had brought home from her travels, then the numerous boxes that contained pretty much her life, and her expression changed from droopy eyed and tired, to one of dread.

"Ugh." Was all she could muster to sum up her feelings on having to unpack. Deciding to wallow in ignoring her obligations of moving to a new house, she just stood up and left the room to go downstairs for that promised coffee and food. She descended the stairs, not at her usual pace of practically running down them, but in a more relaxed manner.

As she reached the bottom, she could smell freshly made coffee, and just followed the smell to the kitchen, a tiny smile on her lips as she looked forward to the first cup of the day. But the enjoyment was short lived, as soon as she walked into the kitchen, she clocked on to a rather tall boy sitting in the kitchen, an energetic woman sitting next to him, and her own mother standing by the coffee pot, pulling out another mug from the cupboard.  
"Morning sweetie!" Her mother chirped, going about putting sugar in the new cup. "This is Karla and Xav Benedict. Remember, I told you about them?" Her mother seemed completely oblivious to the embarrassment of her daughter, who was currently trying to resist turning bright red in front of their guests.  
"H..hi." Was all she could muster, internally crying in embarrassment of being introduced to people in her pyjamas. The boy, who she guessed must have been Xav, smiled at her kindly, but there was the slightest hint of mischief in his smile, showing he appreciated the comical value of the moment. Karla, on the other hand, just seemed so pleased to meet a pyjama clad Danielle.  
"You must be Danielle! I'm so glad to finally meet you; your parents have told us so much about you! I hope we didn't wake you?" Karla Benedict had finally realised that Danielle was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, in her pyjamas with hair escaping from the braid she had put it into the night before.  
"Hey. Cute jammies" Xav said, still smiling at her with a mischievous glint in his eye. Danielle made a mental note to try and avoid him; there was no way in Hell he would let this introduction slide without bringing it up in future.  
"Thanks. Mom told me about your family. Thanks for being there to help settle them in." Danielle said, taking a seat opposite Karla at the kitchen table.

Her parents had moved in a month ago, moving their lives to the other side of the world, and Danielle had decided that it was the perfect time to travel around Europe with her cousin to keep out from under her parents' feet, and get over the fact that she would now see less of her favourite cousin. She had only arrived back from her travels around Europe the day before, and had forced herself to stay up for a few hours until it was a decent time to go to bed, just to try get her body clock right for the new time zone she was to live in.

As if sensing her daughter's need for caffeine, and a mug to hide behind, Mrs Jeffries handed Danielle a cup of coffee, smiling at her lovingly.  
"I also stocked up on croissants for you. The pictures you posted suggested you liked them for breakfast." Her mother said, moving over to the counter again, but she waited for her daughter's answer before doing anything. Danielle wanted to hide under the table in embarrassment: her mother had a tendency to fuss over her, but it only seemed to have gotten worse since they had been on different continents for a month.  
"Uh, sure?" Danielle said, just hoping that going with the flow would soon let her mother stop fussing her. She took a sip of her coffee, just accepting that her chance of making a good impression with some of the Benedict family had long gone.  
"So, Europe huh?" Xav piped up, looking at Danielle with interest. Karla perked up at the mention of Danielle's travels, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh yes, how did you find it?" Karla asked, reminding Danielle of an excited puppy.  
"It was good. It would have been cool if I could have stayed longer in each place we went, but we only had a month and limited funds. But it was still amazing." Danielle smiled, remembering parts of the trip.  
"I'm just happy that you came back." Her mother piped up, putting the croissant in front of Danielle, then gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind her daughter's ear. "And that you and Kerry had fun." She added quickly. Danielle smiled before taking the first bite of her croissant, stopping herself from making a comment about her mother's priorities.  
"Oh yes! I forgot to mention; Xav has been kind enough to offer to help put up your silks in the patio. Would tomorrow work for you?" Mrs Jeffries said, sitting down at the table. Danielle quickly glanced at the boy in question, dreading to think what his impression of her was now. It must have been along the lines of 'can't even get dressed for company, never mind climb a ladder and use a drill'.

"Thanks. I appreciate that. Are my silks in my room, or…" Danielle trailed off, trying to imagine where her mother would have put them.  
"They're in one of the boxes, sweetie." That single statement gave Danielle a firm idea of what to do that day: call her cousin to download the cringe fest of this morning, dig up her aerial silks, find the clothes she usually practiced in, and try come up with a plan to make a better impression of herself tomorrow. The to do list was intimidating enough for her to need another sip of coffee before she looked at it again…


	2. Chapter 2

"Ok, but was he at least cute?" Kerry giggled, most likely imagining the whole incident from the day before in her mind. Danielle shrugged sipping her coffee. "Well, let's just say the girls from school would have giggled and fluttered eyelashes at him." She said, trying not to think of his hair, perfectly messy but not out of control, and his arms when he naturally flexed. Kerry sighed dreamily, making Danielle roll her eyes playfully.  
"Oh wow! But you have a head start on them! Giving him a glimpse of you in your jimjams!" Kerry giggled again, making Danielle laugh too. She was still determined to try save her image, wearing a pair of black workout leggings and her favourite red workout top; a more dignified look she kept for playing in her silks, but had pulled out for today as she planned to have a play in them as soon as the Benedict son had helped her put them up.  
"So, do we know how old he is?" Kerry asked, killing the laughter inside Danielle, but Danielle pretended that the question didn't flip a switch inside.  
"Don't know; it never really came up in conversation." Danielle said, keeping a small smile on her lips so her cousin would hopefully miss the internal panic she was trying to hide. Kerry didn't show it if she had known what Danni was doing.  
"This guy sounds dreamy looking. Find out how old he is, if he's a year older than you, send him my way!" Kerry laughed, fanning her pretend blush. Danielle rolled her eyes at her cousin, a small giggle escaping her.

"Ooh! But if he's your age, that look you got going on there is perfect to get his attention! He's seen sleepy, rumpled, yet cute you, now he gets to see you work your magic and look so damn good doing it!" Kerry's tone changed from cute to badass as she spoke, matching her voice to the looks she described, making Danielle laugh.  
"I knew you would enjoy that little story from yesterday morning." She mused, taking a sip of her coffee again. Kerry shrugged with a shameless grin.  
"Of course! I would enjoy any update from you. You've moved the other side of the world and I'm now left FaceTiming my partner in crime! We're blood! How could you do this to me?!" Kerry clutched her heart dramatically, her voice raising a pitch as she imitated the over the top actresses in old movies. Danielle rolled her eyes.  
"Absence makes the heart fonder?" She mused to her cousin, but knew that her cousin was missing her as much as she was missing Kerry.  
"Sure, sure. You're just gonna turn into a badass snowboarder and rub it in my face when I come visit." Kerry said, keeping it playful. Danielle perked up at that.  
"You're coming to visit?" Danielle asked, straightening up. Kerry nodded.  
"I'm gonna start saving as much as I can and come see you when I can. Don't hold your breath though because I don't know when I can do it." Kerry sighed at the end, telling Danielle all she needed to know: they really were missing each other. Before Danielle could react, there was a knock at the door. Kerry heard it through the call and perked up.  
"Is that him? I wanna see him?" Kerry pleaded like a child, making Danielle laugh.  
"Fine, but only for a minute. I'll go let him in." Danielle said, slipping out of her seat and out the kitchen. She took a deep breath before opening the door, neutral smile on her face as she did so. Xavier Benedict stood in her doorway, looking calmly ruffled and good looking. He had an easy smile on, completing his cool guy look of leather jacket, grey shirt, blue jeans and black boots. Danielle stepped aside to let him in.  
"Hey." She offered, closing the door behind him.  
"Morning sunshine!" He retorted, his smile only growing as he looked her up and down. "So you can do day clothes and neat hair?" He joked, making Danielle "In my defence, I had only arrived the night before…" She blurted out, then trailed off as she remembered that she didn't need to explain herself to him. She'd promised herself that after he had left, the morning before.  
"You want some coffee?" She offered, leading the way to the kitchen. Xavier followed.  
"Sure." Xavier sat down at the kitchen table before realising that the laptop on the table was being used for a call. Danielle grabbed a coffee mug for him, and went about making a coffee.  
"So, like, do you have a plan for saving up for the visit, or are you just winging it?" Danielle asked, but then motioned for Kerry to give her a moment. "How do you take your coffee again?" She asked, turning to Xavier. He smiled and got up.  
"I'll finish it. I think I interrupted your call." He said, nodding to the laptop. Danielle shrugged and let him make his coffee as she sat down to face Kerry who was smirking at her.  
"I'm definitely winging it now. Like, the sooner I can get there, the better!" Kerry said, holding back what she was really trying to say. Danielle could guess: the boy in her kitchen was hot and Kerry was encouraging her to find out who was in his age.  
"Fair enough. Well, as you can see, I have company and you probably want to grab tea." Danielle said. Kerry giggled.  
"Actually, I'm waiting for the delivery man. I ordered out." Kerry said, looking proud of herself. Danielle  
"Well, go wait for him then. I'll message you later." Danielle said, ready to end the call.  
"I will! Talk later! Oh, and Danni: hot damn!" Kerry pointed to Xavier at the worst time possible as he had just turned around to sit down with his coffee. Danni wanted to crawl under the table and never come back. Kerry blushed and ended the call immediately, leaving Danni to deal with the embarrassment. Xavier chuckled before taking a drink of his coffee, sitting down. Danni envied his coolness, but decided she would make her own.

"Sorry, my cousin tends to voice her opinions a lot." Danni said, taking a sip of her own coffee which was nearly luke warm and nearly finished. Xavier shook his head.  
"Don't worry about it. I've heard girls blurt out worse." He said, giving Danni a charming smile. She returned it with a small one and finished her coffee.  
"So, after my mom volunteered me to help you put up your…silks? You called them silks, right?" Xavier looked at her as if asking her to confirm he was right, even though he knew he was. She nodded, not willing to feed his confidence for fear his head wouldn't fit through the door.  
"Well, after mom volunteered me to help you put them up, I looked up what you actually do. It's pretty damn impressive!" Xavier said, sounding genuine. His cocky and joking act had been put away to give her the compliment. Danni smiled shyly, biting her lip. It wasn't often that someone went away and looked up her favourite pass time.  
"Thanks. I have to admit, I'm probably not as good as the people in the videos you saw in the videos online, but I enjoy it." She shrugged, pulling her right knee up to her chest, the heel of her foot resting on the edge of her seat. Xavier's smile grew, watching her get embarrassed, yet calmly taking herself down a notch  
"Nope, don't believe you. I bet you're really good at it." He said before downing half of his coffee. Danni gave a small breath of a laugh, not sure if she believed him. She had never really had an audience when she played in her silks, so had no idea if people really appreciated her hobby.  
"Maybe if we have time, I'll show you a few moves." She said, surprising herself; she never offered to show people what she enjoyed doing. Then again, if she wanted an honest opinion on her performance, a total stranger was a good choice of audience. Her offer definitely caught Xavier's attention. He raised an eyebrow at her offer, his face changing ever so slightly, staying calm and relaxed as always, but there was an underlying excitement to it.  
"Cool! I get a private show of Cirque De Danielle!" He chuckled, but there wasn't much of a joke to his words, but rather encouragement and enthusiasm. Danni giggled, getting up and putting her coffee mug in the sink.  
"Well, guess I should bring my silks down so we can hook them up to the out building." She said before slipping out the kitchen and running up the stairs to get them. It didn't take long as she had spent the night before looking for which box they had ended up in. When she walked back into the kitchen, Xavier was putting his phone away, with an unfamiliar expression on his face. Danni wanted to say it was nervousness, but Xavier seemed to exist in a whole different galaxy to that word.  
"Everything okay?" she asked politely. Xavier's usual smile returned as he looked up at her.  
"Yep. Let's get these set up so I can see you perform." He joked, adding a little wink. Danni gave a half hearted smile, trying to stop her heart from racing.


End file.
